Troubled Hearts
by maddiebonanafana
Summary: After both Neal and Regina's disappearance, Emma decides to search The Mayors home for clues. What she finds in the basement is a most disturbing scene...


Rated M for some slightly disturbing imagery. You can also find this story on the OUAT kinkmeme!

Emma swiftly picked the lock on Regina's front door. The mayor of Storybrooke had been absent from town for several days now. They all had noticed her odd behavior, her paranoia, her anger, her violence. It frightened the citizens of Storybrooke and Emma feared for Henry's safety. She had planned to send him back to live with Neal for a little bit while, but 2 weeks ago he went missing as well. At first Emma was angry with him, she thought he had up and left just like he did 11 years ago, but upon further investigation she found that he had left everything behind and hadn't even said a goodbye. Neal seemed to be enjoying his time with Henry and her, he wouldn't just leave without an explanation. Emma knew something was up, she had the awful feeling that there was something very wrong.

Emma hadn't slept in days, not since Neal went missing. She had been up all hours of the night trying to find him, trying to look for clues on what had happened to him. The thought of her finding him dead kept creeping up in her mind but she tried to shove it back down. She had to stay strong. For her and for Henry. But she still couldn't shake this nauseating feeling that something was wrong.

"Regina!" She called into the empty house. There was no answer. Her fingers traced over the gun in her belt. Just in case. She stepped inside carefully and quietly, looking around for any signs of Regina. Emma knew that Regina was somehow connected to Neal's disappearance, she didn't have any evidence, but sometimes a hunch was all you needed. "Regina! Are you in here?" She called again. Silence, at first, but just as Emma relaxed she heard a loud muffled sob coming from inside the house. She let out a shaky breath, her heart was racing. "Regina! Are you ok?!" Another sob, this one coming in strings. Emma withdrew her gun quickly and assumed the standard stance. She carefully stepped around each corner of the house, gun out and ready to shoot as she checked each room. So far everything seemed to be normal, except for the owner of the homes absence. Her boots clicked on hard wood floor as she entered the kitchen, and her stomach dropped as soon as she saw a dark liquid red pooling on the floor.

Blood. Neal's blood. Dead. Neal dead. Her brain seemed to scream the words as she shakily bent down to investigate. "Oh thank god." She whispered. It was just wine. Laying next to the spilt pool of wine was a shattered wine glass. Emma breathes a sigh of relief and she felt herself relax, heart rate returning to normal. She felt the dread return when she noticed another object on the floor. It was a small, skinny white looking thing, nearly disguised with the pristine white kitchen floor. Upon a closer look, Emma felt her stomach become full with dread.

It was a pregnancy test. She knew one when she saw one. She grabbed it quickly and scanned her eyes over it. It was negative. "What the hell is going on..." She asked herself. Emma, disgusted she had touched Regina's pee stick, tossed it in the trash can. Curious, she made a grab for it and started pilfering through it. "Thank god I'm wearing gloves..." She thought, as she sifted through garbage. Before she knew it she had found and laid out atleast 10 more pregnancy tests. All of them negative.

Emma sat there, trying to put everything together. No matter how hard she tried to thing, nothing seemed to add up. "Neal, where are you..." She choked back a sob. Another string of muffled sobs motivated her to get back up and investigate the source of the cries.

Gun raised, she followed the noises. they grew louder the deeper she went into the house.

When the floor began to sound hollow, she looked down. Lifting up the rug under her feet, she saw a hatch in the floor. This was it. Emma lifted the hatch and opened it up to find a secret set of stairs. Carefully she stepped down into the darkness, gun still raised. The hitched sobs were much more clear now, and they were coming from behind the locked door that the stairs led to. Emma swallowed and slowly continued on, arms locked, fingers tight on the gun. When she reached the door her heart was pounding, thoughts screaming in her head so loud she felt dizzy. She was afraid of what she would find behind the door.

What if Regina had murdered Neal to stop him from taking Henry? What if behind this door, was Neal's body, drowning in a pool of his own blood? Tremors passed through Emma's legs and she breathed shakily. Emma closed her eyes, and kicked down the door.

The sight Emma immediately laid eyes on, filled her entire body with dread.

Regina was slumped to the floor against a bed. she was holding something in her hand and sobbing. Her once beautiful, shiny black hair was now dull and dead, and there was purple circling her eyes. Black tears streamed down her face, painting her porcelain skin. She was surrounded by boxes worth of negative pregnancy tests. Emma watched with wide, horror filled eyes as her body hitched with horrible sobs. "Regin-" Emma started to reach out to her, but a muffled grunt drew her attention to the bed.

A naked and withering Neal was hooked to the bed, chains tight around his wrists, a wide strip of silver sealing his mouth shut. He couldn't speak, but his tired eyes said everything. "Neal!" Emma rushed to the bed but Regina's words stopped her.

"Don't. Touch him." She gritted though her teeth, squeezing something in her hand. Neal bucked and moaned in pain. A glowing red stepped through Regina's hand.

She had Neal's heart. Emma stopped dead in her tracks. "Put the weapon away." Said Regina, eyes locking on Emma. Without a word Emma slipped the gun back into her belt and raised her hands up defensively.

"Regina, please. Don't do this-"

"Shut up Ms. Swan!" She squeezed Neal's heart again and he yelped, writhing on the bed in pain. Emma shut her mouth, but let her eyes travel over to Neal.

Neal's body was abused and starved, deep scratches and bite marks evident. Sickly pale skin stretched over withering muscles. Tired, painfilled eyes met Emma's and her heart broke. Everything made sense now. His disappearance, Regina's odd behavior, the pregnancy tests...oh god the pregnancy tests...

"Neal..." Emma cried softly. "What has she done to you..." Without thinking she reached out to caress his face.

"I said DONT TOUCH HIM!" Regina screamed, grip on Neal's heart tightening. Neal seized up in pain and groaned, eyes begging Emma to comply. "He's mine now Swan, I won't let you take him from me." Her words were like hot liquid anger as she spit them out. "Not like you took my son from me." Regina's eyes were daggers, stabbing into Emma with such a deep hatred.

"Regina i took Henry away for his own safety." Emma tried to explain calmly. Desperate thoughts on ways of escape racing through her mind. She had to get Neal out, heart intact. She could deal with Regina, but not while she held his heart.

"You have no right, to take away MY son." Her voice was faltering, sobs threatened to tear through her throat.

"Our son-"

"MY SON!"

Emma swallowed. She would have to bite her tongue. Regina was clearly unstable. Yet she held all the power.

Regina was crying now, mascara tears trickling down her face. "You have everything you could ever want. Parents who love you, citizens who support you," her tone was bitter and acidic, jealousy laced in her words. She turned towards the bound Neal, "You have true love..." She placed her hand on Neal's thigh and he flinched slightly at her touch, not used to it being soothing and gentle. Emma felt a pang of jealousy in that moment.

Regina had tried to fill her emptiness with a baby. Neal's baby. She used Neal to soothe her jealousy. She had touched him, kissed him, marked him, forced him inside her. The horrible images of Neal's rape made Emma sick to her stomach, sick with anger and slight jealousy. She wanted to throttle Regina, smash her head into the floor. She wanted her to pay for what she did to Neal.

But as long as Regina held his heart, Emma was powerless.

"It isn't fair! You don't deserve any of that! Why do you get everything and I get nothing?! WHERES MY HAPPY ENDING?!" She screamed. For the first time in her life, Emma felt true fear. She was trapped with a mad woman who held more power than she knew what to do with.

"Regina just let me help you-" Emma tried to step forward, but the groan of pain from Neal made her freeze.

"I DONT NEED YOUR HELP!" Another muffled moan of pain came from Neal, this one louder.

"Regina whatever harm you want to do, do it to me, not him." Said Emma, more than willing to take whatever pain away from Neal she could.

Regina didn't pay any attention to her request. "I spent hours lying on top of him, forcing himself so deep in me I bled, I tried every trick in the book. I even made him tell me how it was with you. How do you get a baby from one night in the backseat of a car, and I can't get one after hours of work?! HOW IS THAT FAIR?! YOU TOOK MY BABY, MY HENRY, AND NOW I CANT REPLACE HIM!" Regina was mad with rage, coated in tears and sweat.

Emma did her best to stay calm, "Regina, let me help you. Please. If you let me help you, you can see Henry again, just put Neal's heart back first."

Regina shook her head, body racking with sobs. "He doesn't want to see me, he doesn't love me anymore, you took his love from me." Her words were broken and corrupt. She looked towards Neal and caressed his face lovingly. "He's all I have now," Neal didn't even try to jerk away from her. Fighting her meant bruises and teeth. Nails and blood. All fight in him had been lost, and he didn't so much as flinch when Regina threw herself on top

Of him, arms cradling him possessively. "You don't deserve him, you don't deserve to have someone like him give you a baby. He's mine now, and I won't let you take him from me."

Emma swallowed, trying to think her word choice carefully.

"Ok Regina, obviously he...means a lot to you." Regina didn't hear Emma's words, she just slumped down again and sobbed. Emma didn't know why she bothered, Regina was not with them anymore. Whatever was once Regina was now gone, lost in her own madness.

"Please...please don't take him away..." She pleaded quietly, hand still clutching the heart. The last shred of power she would ever hold.

"I'm not going to take him from you, I just want to get him cleaned up, get him some water. He doesn't look good Regina, you don't want the father of your baby to be sick do you?"

"I just want my baby...I just want my baby..." She kept saying over and over. "Give me my baby. Give me my baby." Emma was unsure of who she was talking to, but at this point she just wanted Neal out of her control.

"Regina. Regina look at me." Emma said firmly. She got down to Regina's level and looked her in the eyes. They looked lost and blank. "Put Neal's heart back in his body so I can help him. Ok? I'm not going to take him from you. I just want to help." Entire body shaking, Regina looked at Neal. She knew in her heart how wrong it was, but she didn't care. All she wanted was her baby, and it had to come from him. If she couldn't have Henry she'd have the next best thing. Emma said she just wanted to help, but Regina knew her intentions. She was going to take Neal away from her. Her only chance at having her happy ending. Suddenly she felt the weight of Neal's heart in her hands, the heat of it's glow warming her palm.

She could take Neal away from Emma. Well, she already did, but the pesky swan was threatening to take him back. Regina couldn't let her power slip, she had to keep Emma in line and make her remember who the queen was here. If Regina couldn't have Neal, then Emma couldn't either. A sick smile spread across her face as she tightened her hand around Neal's heart. Regina's unnerving smile disturbed Neal, and his eyes widened in fear. He twisted against his restraints as he felt a tight pain in his chest. He locked eyes with Regina's, muffling under his gag, begging her to stop.

When Neal looked at Regina, all she could see were Henry's eyes. Beautiful, round eyes, scared and innocent eyes. Her grip on his heart immediately released and she whimpered, defeated. She leaned over and pressed a kiss against Neal's tape covered lips, putting his heart back in place as she did so.

Color was somewhat restored to Neal but he still looked pale. He gasped in relief and his body relaxed. Regina slumped down again and cried, short, hitched cries at first. The moment Regina removed herself off Neal, Emma quickly rushed to him.

"Neal! Neal, oh my god, are you ok?!" She asked as she carefully peeled the tape from his mouth. Underneath the tape, Neal's mouth was filled with something. Emma gently worked his mouth open and removed the wadded up stuffing. The packing was black and lacy, with a purple ribbon on the front. They were panties. Regina's panties. Emma shuddered in disgust and dropped them quickly. Neal heaved and coughed, groaning in pain and exhaustion. "Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out." Said Emma as she fumbled with his restraints. "You're ok. It's ok." She kept repeating.

Emma repeated soothing words to Neal as she helped him up off the bed and wrapped him up to hide his nakedness. She wasn't sure if the words were for her or Neal, or if she was just trying to drown out Regina's horrible sobs. "Sit down right here, I'm gonna call for help." Emma whipped out her cell phone and dialed her mom as quick as she could.

"I found Neal. And Regina. It's not pretty. I need you to get David down here quick. No, don't get Gold yet. If he comes I'll be brining Regina out in a body bag. No, Henry won't want to see this...ok. Thanks. Tell him to hurry." Emma out away the phone and quickly secured Regina with handcuffs. "Were gonna get you help Regina, don't worry."

"I want my baby. I just want my baby..." She sobbed. As angry and disgusted in Regina as she was, Emma hoped she was not talking to an empty shell.


End file.
